Search
Now showing items 1-10 of 14
IMPACTS OF LATERAL SPREADING AND UPSTREAM CONDITIONS ON BUOYANT RIVER PLUMES: MIXING, STRUCTURE AND PLUME DYNAMICS
(2013-04-17)
This dissertation investigates the nature of physical processes associated with buoyant river plumes under the impacts of rotation, lateral spreading and upstream conditions. Two sets of laboratory experiments, one focused on the whole rotating buoyant plume, and the other zoomed into the near field plume, are studied. When ...
Breaking Waves on the Ocean Surface
In the open ocean, breaking waves are a critical mechanism for the transfer of energy, momentum, and mass between the atmosphere and the ocean. Despite much study, fundamental questions about wave breaking, such as what determines whether a wave will break, remain unresolved. Measurements of oceanic breakers, or "whitecaps," ...
Tidal flat thermodynamics
(2013-11-14)
Intertidal flats are important coastal margin environments linking the terrestrial and marine ecosystems. This dissertation studies the thermodynamic processes of tidal flats over tidal, fortnightly, and seasonal timescales through in situ field observations, remotely sensed measurements, and a numerical model of cross-flat ...
Surface waves in the Beaufort Sea
The rapidly changing Arctic sea ice cover affects surface wave growth across all scales. The effect of sea ice extent on wave growth is studied using in situ measurements of waves observed from freely-drifting buoys during the 2014 open water season. Wave measurements made in open water areas of the Beaufort Sea are interpreted ...
Wave Breaking Dissipation in a Fetch-Limited Sea
(2013-04-17)
Coupled remote sensing and <italic>in situ</italic> measurements of strongly-forced, fetch-limited waves are applied to assess the role of breaking in an evolving wavefield. Wave growth follows accepted fetch-limited relations, and estimated terms in the Radiative Transfer Equation are in quasi-equilibrium. Remote sensing ...
The Effects of Ice and Currents on Wave-breaking Turbulence at the Ocean Surface
Breaking waves are critical to the exchange of momentum, gasses, and heat between the atmosphere and ocean. In open water, these exchanges control the growth and decay of waves, and have implications for global heat and gas budgets. However, local geophysical properties can significantly alter these exchanges. At river inlets, ...
Wind and wave-influenced mixing and dynamics in the Fraser River plume
Rivers play a large role in the transport of matter between ecosystems by connecting interior regions with lakes and oceans. River outflows, or plumes, constitute a significant delivery mechanism of pollutants, sediment, and nutrients to the coastal environment. Such plumes are common along the worlds coastlines, but are ...
Estimating Energy Dissipation Due to Wave Breaking in the Surf Zone Using Infrared Imagery
Wave breaking is the largest forcing mechanism in the surf zone. Therefore, quantifying energy dissipation due to wave breaking is important for improving models that seek to predict nearshore circulation, wave-current interactions, air-sea gas exchange, erosion and accretion of sediment, and storm surge. Wave energy dissipation ...
Hydrodynamics and Sediment Transport at the River-Ocean Interface: Analytical and Laboratory Investigations
This study presents a combination of numerical and analytical investigations of fluid and sediment transport mechanics through the river-ocean interface. This region is defined broadly as the region within the river that is influenced by the receiving basin--both the salinity and the oscillating and mean basin heights--as ...
Geometry, Kinematics & Energetics of Surf Zone Waves Near the Onset of Breaking Using Remote Sensing
The surf zone is the shallow nearshore region where waves break due to depth-limitations. These breaking waves drive important nearshore processes, including alongshore and cross-shore circulation, sediment transport, and air-sea gas and particle exchange. Measuring and modeling such processes to gain better physical understanding ...